Tuesday, January 31, 2006

So- I was waiting to post another update on my blog until something very specific happened.

Well, it happened last friday, so I guess I'm a little behind. I was waiting for my official offer letter from Microsoft, to be full time salaried employee with benefits, vacation, stock, etc.

But I already knew it would happen, so when it did happen, it didn't surprise me or shock me, which might have gotten me to post a new blog sooner.

So yeah, I got my offer letter. I accepted, and I didn't counter-offer. A lot of the people I work with told me that I should counter offer, and after a few hours of that, it got me thinking that maybe I'm cheating myself out of money if I don't counter offer. But no, God will provide, he has, and he always will, and I do not doubt that one bit. I am so thankful for what he has done for me, and how he has blessed me, and it would tarnish that so much if I counter offered, in my opinion.

But I don't even feel like thats the exciting part of life for me right now. I've got the closing paperwork for my loan sitting on my desk at home, (I need to finish signing it, remind me if you can) and that is VERY exciting. They are going to try and close the deal early for me, because I'll be on vacation when its supposed to close. I'm going to have my very own place here soon.

But thats not the exciting part of my life, either.

Whats exciting is God working so fully through me. For the third week in a row I've prayed and prophesied over people. I've just been shocked and even more shocked as I hear the words come out of my mouth about tools God will equip people with to do his will, and pouring out the Holy Spirit into people, and watching it in turn pour out of them. Which, was prophesied over me by George about 3 or 4 months ago...

All of the prophesies in my life coming true are just so outlandish and crazy, because it always sounds too good to be true when someone does speak the word of God to you. "You will reach the people around you, you will pour out your passion and it will light other fires, you will mentor four people, you will not have problems or issues in your walk, because Jesus doesn't want to wait for you," and SO many more.. and they've all come true. And they are all still coming true.

It is so absolutely fantastic, wonderful and inspiring. I know now that when the bible talks about living in God's fullness for your life, the kind of peace you have. It really is one of the best kinds of feelings humans can achieve. What gets me the most: Its all about love. Thats it! It's so simple! It is ALL about love. God loves us so much, that he saved us. He gave us complete free will, complete free will. And I see why. If you were God, and you created people, if you, in the end, made them serve you, it wouldn't be free will. They wouldn't have done it because they want to, they would have done it because you made them. Thats why sin exists- because God gave us free will, and we can choose life or death. We can choose Heaven or Hell. Seems so painfully clear to me. In order for us to completely love him with all that we are, he gave us free will. The downside to that is, people that don't accept him, who ignore his word, and who choose sin. My heart aches for them! God has come to you and asked you to love him, and follow him, and he will cleanse you and take care of you. How simple is that!! Its all about love! The message of Jesus is so easy, and so simple. It really is.

As He is using me for His ministries, its been amazing because He is with me wherever I go. In whatever I do. As I continue to step into the man of God he has called me to be, I will stretch and pain, but I can't wait to be a real servant on this earth, known by my fruit. And its so crazy, as I draw closer to Him, the more He takes care of me! Cars, condos, jobs.. people. everything. CRAZY!! Its almost unbelievable! I trust in God with my time, and he plans it effectively. Its going to get even more filled in the future, but He will make sure I don't get burned out.

So, thats my post! Wow, I sense such a commonality with all of my posts lately. Good stuff. Oh, and on the more low-level front, my ulcer is starting to go away. It still hurts, but as people keep praying for me it keeps getting less and less, and I have been eating more and more. Pretty cool. I'm going to daytona, the 12th thru the 21st, for the daytona 500 (man, theres gonna be soooo many hicks there, haha) and I'll be moving into the condo probably end of feb/beginning of march, unless something changes there. I'm gonna need some furniture... oh, my car broke down, took me a thousand to fix it all up, but its running strong now (the prelude, not the WRX, ha), thats done. Got a haircut... :) My relationship with Rosemary is going pretty much as good as it possibly could be(the rest of that topic is saved for closed doors and open hearts), (Thanks God- you're the MAN) and, hmm, I'm starting up a friday night small group, don't have the details figured out yet, but thats cool. I'm going to be a leader in NXG after a re-org here in the next two days, and well, I think that gets everyone up to date on everything about Ricky pretty much.

Tuesday, January 10, 2006

One more area of my life is being blessed abundantly.

I've been searching for a condo to buy for the last 3 months or so- I've looked at maybe 6 or 7 in a very specific area/feature set, and on three of them I've been in bidding wars that I've lost (two of them I lost because the other people weren't playing fair).

I looked at two tonight. One was very modern, somewhat small, a little out of the way, and kind of... restrictive, in my opinion (no extra parking spots at ALL, no cell phone coverage at ALL, gates and locks everywhere, close quarters, crammed in, etc) and the second was...

exactly what I've been looking for. 1461 square feet, (yes thats absolutely huge for a condo) two bedroom, one and three quarter bathroom, a nice patio, three levels, a small deck off the master bedroom, lots of storage area, nice garage with more storage area, extra parking spots for visitors... PERFECT location, right smack in the middle of Tukwila, and a HALF BLOCK from the freeway entrance/exit. Its the very last condo in the entire complex, so the back deck doesn't have you looking into someone's living room, it just has some rocks and trees. It has ALL of the appliances with it. Washer, dryer, dishwasher, microwave, fridge, stove, etc... all for free.

And the best part of all... it is not listed on the market, its for sale by owner- friend of a friend type of deal, so there are no real estate fees (6% of total cost) so I'm getting about 15 thousand off, and another 5 thousand or so because if it was listed, it'd be listed quite high (very high demand area).

its SO expensive... but I talked to God about it. He told me he gave me the resources to live wherever I want to, within the means he has provided. I think I'll need to rent my 2nd room out, but I can do this.

Woo!! This is so crazy good, God has filled my cup to overflowing.

He's GOTTA be preparing me for quite the life, with this kind of blessing and honor.

Pour on God's Blessing! I'll take all I can get, and I'll just keep pouring it RIGHT back out!

Monday, January 09, 2006

well, I've got my answers. I don't know if I can even explain whats happened in between my last post, dec. 28th, and this day. I'll give it a shot though, because thats kind of the purpose of a blog. :)

That night, after I posted my blog, I wrote a letter to God concerning my question I was deathly afraid of. Before I was even finished writing it, I had my answer. My confusion went away, and I had God's peace. I slept like a baby. I've got God's hand on my life, and he showed me that. I am walking in his light. Thats what I needed to know. Why?

In all of my life, I have sought to do the right thing. I hate faulting, I hate tripping up, I hate going down fruitless hurtful paths. I don't want to pursue things that don't have God's will in them, because they are just a waste of time. hurtful relationships, mostly- because its so easy to start trusting someone, even when its not God's will or direction. Why? Well, God commands me to love everyone... and so I do. So I had to know that he wanted me to place my hand in hers, and to really enter in to a relationship. I had to know, that God is with me.

Thats why.

So, since that night, its just been worship. Worship for God, because he is good. How many millions of times have I proclaimed him as my Savior, my Shepherd, my King. And look, look what he has led me to.

Because of that, I worshipped him. And then, I looked around, and I seized the moment- I decided to ask of God. I decided to humble myself before his throne, and lay my requests at his feet. Because he had given to me, so I prayed that he make his gifts fruitful, powerful, heavenly, other-worldly. Because I am not a product of this world, I am a product of God, and I do not live by this world's standards. And so the fruit I want in my life, I ask for it to be holy, pure, sanctified, righteous, supernatural. He has given me everything I've ever asked of him, and so now, I go to him and lift him up in praise, and ask him for his Glory in every area of my life. Ask and you shall receive! And so I ASK of my maker.

Its not just one area of my life that has been so abundantly blessed. Its been every area. Look, let me show you.

I have an interview date for Tuesday, January 17th, for a full benefits salaried position at microsoft. Umm, ever since I was stinkin ten years old I wanted to work at microsoft, to have that blue badge. I worked SO HARD at it since I had that first dream. I got certified at a young age, I tore computers apart, put them back together, I learned strange programming languages, I volunteered at tech schools, I did pretty much everything I could to get here. But it wasn't all that work of mine that brought me here, it was God. He paved the way. I'm a little anxious for my interviews, but I know, as God is my Saviour, that his plans will be done.

Or, or, in my service to God- I'm starting in a new role as a leader of a men's group at church. God placed me smack in the middle of a leadership role, and I didn't even realize what he was doing until I was there. And then, he BLESSED me in it- he took the passion he has given me, and he poured it over these men of God, and I tell you, he showed up. I've never felt so anointed in my life, than last night, when I laid hands on people, and we praised God for his goodness because of what he had done.

I never knew God planted that in me. It shocked me.

You know, if you are reading this right now, and you're thinking "what a crazy Jesus Freak." I would say to you, you are absolutely right. And you'll never find the fullness and greatness of God until you seek after it with your whole heart and ALL of your actions. Go back, and read my blog from a couple months ago. Where I came upon the realization that I was crawling in my christianity. And then I said, that I will learn to walk my path- and not crawl. Boom, here it is.

I've never experienced this kind of fullness pursuing the world. And nobody will.